We can’t pick a #SuperBowl favorite, but Philadelphia and New England both look great from space...
Find out more about these views:
Phila…

We can’t pick a #SuperBowl favorite, but Philadelphia and New England both look great from space...
Find out more about these views:
Philadelphia: https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=90513
Boston: https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=88300

Already made it through Pokémon Ultra Sun or Pokémon Ultra Moon and looking to go on an Alolan shopping spree? We’ve got you covered on how you can li…

Already made it through Pokémon Ultra Sun or Pokémon Ultra Moon and looking to go on an Alolan shopping spree? We’ve got you covered on how you can live that lavish Trainer lifestyle: http://bit.ly/2BhIWzX

When tensions rise between these two powerful Pokémon, the very nature of time and space hangs in the balance! Want to learn more about Dialga and Pal…

When tensions rise between these two powerful Pokémon, the very nature of time and space hangs in the balance! Want to learn more about Dialga and Palkia? Our celebration of Legendary Pokémon continues this weekend with the movie Pokémon: The Rise of Darkrai on Pokémon TV! http://bit.ly/2gIfPdz

A View of the Winter Olympics from Above
Since the Winter Olympics were first held in 1924, they only have been hosted twice in Asia, both times…

A View of the Winter Olympics from Above
Since the Winter Olympics were first held in 1924, they only have been hosted twice in Asia, both times in Japan. This year the games will find a new home in South Korea, in the northeastern cities of Pyeongchang and Gangneung.
Meteorologists are predicting bitterly cold temperatures for these 23rd Winter Olympics—a stark contrast from the slushy and unseasonably warm games in Vancouver (2010) and Sochi (2014). In fact, the 2018 Olympics could be the coldest in the history of the games, as frigid westerlies tend to blow in from Siberia. The long-term average low for February in Pyeongchang is -10.5 degrees Celsius (13.1 degrees Fahrenheit), while the average high is -0.4°C (31.3°F). Recent weather has been significantly colder, and some meteorologists are speculating that temperatures for the opening ceremonies on February 9 could drop to -20°C. The Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA) forecast can be found here.
Pyeongchang is nestled in the Taebaek Mountains, a 22-million year old range that runs 500 kilometers (300 miles) near the Pacific Coast of South and North Korea. All of the skiing and snowboarding events, as well as the opening ceremonies, will be held in this area, which has a base elevation of about 700 meters (2,300 feet). Pyeongchang lies approximately 180 km (110 mile) east of Seoul, the capital of South Korea.
Olympic ice events—hockey, speed skating, curling, figure skating—will be held in Gangneung, which sits on the coastal plain between the Taebaek Mountains and the Pacific Ocean.
Both cities are visible in these natural-color images acquired on January 26, 2018, by the Operational Land Imager (OLI) on Landsat 8. The top image shows the Landsat data draped over topographic data from NASA’s Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM). The second image is a nadir (straight down) view from OLI.
The development of Olympic venues at Mount Gariwang—particularly the Alpensia and Yongpyong ski resorts—came with some cost and controversy. Tree-covered slopes were cleared for ski runs and other infrastructure, though Olympic organizers have promised to re-plant much of the area after the games are completed. Environmental and cultural advocates lamented the loss of ancient and sacred forests, but Olympic organizers pointed to a rule that Alpine ski events must be held on slopes that stand at least 800 meters above sea level, and Mount Gariwang was identified as the only site that could meet that requirement.
Alongside the competition and spectacle of the games, Earth science researchers will be conducting observations and experiments. International Collaborative Experiments for Pyeongchang 2018 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (ICE-POP 2018) is a scientific field campaign that will be taking place in Korea in February and March to study mountain-induced snowfall and other weather phenomena in the PyeongChang region. The effort is led by KMA in conjunction with the World Meteorological Organization, and NASA-funded scientists will be participating.
https://go.nasa.gov/2E7VpEK

Emi Koussi and Wind Grooves
An astronaut aboard the International Space Station (ISS) took this oblique photograph of one of the large volcanoes…

Emi Koussi and Wind Grooves
An astronaut aboard the International Space Station (ISS) took this oblique photograph of one of the large volcanoes found in the central Sahara Desert. Emi Koussi is the dark crater and cone occupying most of the image. The dark lavas erupted from the volcano contrast with the surrounding light-toned sands and bedrock. For scale, the Emi Koussi crater is 12 to 15 kilometers wide (7.5 to 9.5 miles). Canyons, which were eroded by rivers and streams, radiate down the slopes. Click here for an earlier photo of the crater depression.
The Emi Koussi cone rises so high above the surrounding plains (2300 meters or 7,500 feet) that it deflects the dominant winds, which curve around the mountain mass. The lack of vegetation in the desert allows these persistent winds to erode long grooves in soft rocks—geologists call them yardangs. The grooves can be 30 meters deep and up to tens of kilometers long, and they reflect the dominant wind directions.
Emi Koussi is one of a line of volcanoes trending north in the range known as the Tibesti Mountains, which are often photographed by ISS crews. Travel across this countryside is known to be extremely difficult due to the challenging terrain.
https://go.nasa.gov/2FLLCEP

Eastern Sayan Mountains
An astronaut aboard the International Space Station captured this photograph of the Eastern Sayan Mountains in northern …

Eastern Sayan Mountains
An astronaut aboard the International Space Station captured this photograph of the Eastern Sayan Mountains in northern Mongolia. As the Sun sets in the west (top of the image), shadows darken the eastern-facing mountain slopes and the adjacent valleys. The lower elevations in the photo are marked by taiga forests, while snow covers many of the mountaintops that are bare of vegetation.
These mountains are largely uninhabited, and the closest mapped town is approximately 90 kilometers (60 miles) from the center of the image. The region has served for centuries as a crossroads for journeyers and traders between Mongolia and Russia.
According to the Koppen Climate Classification, the region is classified as Dwc—snow with dry winters and cool summers. With slight fluctuations in temperature, snow melt and occasional precipitation travels down the mountain sides and into tributaries on the low river valley. These tributaries flow east, approximately 150 kilometers (100 miles) before emptying into Lake Khuvsgul, the largest freshwater lake in Mongolia by volume.
https://go.nasa.gov/2BSi6zc

Glaciers in the Tropics, but Not for Long
In the Papua province of Indonesia on the island of New Guinea, rugged mountains compose the Surdiman …

Glaciers in the Tropics, but Not for Long
In the Papua province of Indonesia on the island of New Guinea, rugged mountains compose the Surdiman Range. The tallest peak in this range—Puncak Jaya—rises 4,884 meters (16,020 feet) above sea level. An adjacent peak on the rocky ridge, Ngga Pulu, reaches almost as high at 4,862 meters (15,950 feet). Though the mountains are located just south of the equator, their elevation is high enough and the air temperatures are cold enough to still support a few small areas of “permanent” ice.
The icefields around Puncak Jaya are rare. You won’t find glacial ice for another 4,500 kilometers (2,800 miles) to the north on Japan’s Mount Tate, which lies outside the tropics where glacial ice is more common. Within the tropics, the closest glacial ice can be found 11,200 kilometers (6,900 miles) away on Mount Kenya in Africa. Like tropical glaciers elsewhere in the world, the glaciers on the slopes around Puncak Jaya have been shrinking and scientists estimate they could be gone within about a decade.
This image pair, acquired in 1988 by the Thematic Mapper on Landsat 5 (top) and in 2017 by the Operational Land Imager (OLI) on the Landsat 8 satellite, shows the ice loss. The false-color images are a combination of shortwave infrared, infrared, near infrared, and red light. Ice appears light blue. Clouds are white; exposed rock is brown; and vegetation is green. The gray circular area near the center of the 2017 image is the Grasberg mine.
The top image shows that, as of 1988, five masses of ice rested on the mountain slopes. By 2009, the Meren and Southwall glaciers had disappeared, and the Carstenz, East Northwall Firn, and West Northwall Firn had retreated dramatically. By the time OLI acquired the 2017 image, the West Northwall Firn had also disappeared.
Satellites continue to be an important tool for scientists who are mapping the changes to these and other disappearing tropical glaciers. Christopher Shuman, a research professor at the University of Maryland Baltimore County, and Compton Tucker of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, are in the process of doing just that. “The ice area losses since the 1980s here are quite striking, visible in the contrast of the blue ice with the reddish bedrock,” Shuman said. “Even though the area still gets snowfalls, it is clearly not sustaining these glacial remnants.”
According to Andrew Klein, a geography professor at Texas A & M University who has studied the region, the decline likely started around the 1850s. Aerial photography collected later within a U.S. Geological Survey report provides glimpses of the ice that existed in the area prior to the 1980s. Satellites now allow Klein and other researchers to observe the ice in detail from afar when they cannot get to the remote site. It also allows them to track the rate of ice loss and estimate the timing of its disappearance.
“Glacier recession continues in the tropics—these happen to be the last glaciers in the eastern tropics,” Klein said. “Fortunately, the impact will be limited given their small size and the fact that they do not represent a significant water resource.”
https://go.nasa.gov/2BtF5zK